Welcome!
MOPS 2016 is officially underway, and it was so great to see all our mama friends' beautiful faces after the holiday craziness! This month we talked more about "Embracing Rest", one of the 3 focuses of this year's theme A Fierce Flourishing. For many of us moms this may be one of our greatest challenges of the new year. We know we need to care for ourselves so we can be better moms (& humans) but it is soooo easy to put your needs on the back burner. Read on for a little mom to mom encouragement about how you can Embrace Rest in this new year.Devotional
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Glennon started out by contrasting the "valley" and "mountaintop" experiences in our lives. Everyone longs for the mountaintop but in reality, the air is thin at the top of the mountain and we're hanging on trying to not to fall. The valley is where you find the water; where growth happens. Glennon shares 3 "Lessons from the Valley" that she has learned over the years:
1) We need to find what fills us up.
So often women identify themselves by what they DO (mother, wife, etc.) and by WHO they love and serve, but are unable to answer questions like: What do I love? What is beauty to me? What fills my soul and refreshes me? When do I take time to fill up? Our families need us to be strong and we must find what fills us up so that we can pour out to & for them.
2) Be Still.
Glennon describes a lesson she learned about balance in doing yoga. She learned that balance is actually 2 pressures pushing in at one time and holding something up. Our goal should not be a life with no pressure, as that's not actually a life at all. We need the pressure to hold us up, to give our lives meaning. But we get out of balance when one pressure (community, family, work) is pushing too hard on us.
Sometimes, when life is hard, we just need to be still. And then do the next right thing. We may not be able to see the end, so we just do one thing at a time. Glennon recounts an experience in a hot yoga class where she broke down saying, "I just want to make it through without running out of here." This same sentiment applies to our relationships and lives. Life is a hard journey, and pain means we're about to grow. We just have to stay in the game and keep doing the next right thing, even if it's only one little thing.
3) Brokenheartedness is transformational.
Whether our hearts are broken for ourselves or for what someone else is experiencing, being broken hearted takes a lot of energy and it counts. It counts as love. It transforms people. We should not feel obliged or allowed to fix someone's pain. Most often they just need someone to be there and to walk with them through the valley.
Glennon ended with the reminder that love wins. We can do hard things. And we belong together.
Craft
This
month's craft was such a fun idea for a family keepsake! We made
several different types of "celebration plates" - special plates to use
on birthdays or other days worthy of a little extra celebrating. Check
back soon for a tutorial post on how to create these fun plates!
Special Guests
Anderson MOPS has long enjoyed a special relationship with New Covenant Church. As our previous host church, New Covenant has always been a great support to MOPS. This month the New Covenant school blessed our socks off! The fantastic high school kids there came and watched ALL of our kids in MOPPETS!!! We cannot say enough about these polite and caring teenagers! If you are looking for a church home or a fantastic preschool and/or K - 12th grade program we strongly encourage you to check them out at newcovschool.net or by clicking here.
THANK YOU SO MUCH New Covenant School!!!
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